Words: 1762

This was born of boredom at a dinner party as I was waiting for the dessert. Also, I can't write Gwen interacting with the rest of the team to save my life.

At the shrill ringing of his alarm, Ianto tumbled out of bed with an unmanly yelp. As he lay facedown on the ground, he let out a belated groan.

"I hope that's for the early start, and not because you're in pain," Jack commented tiredly from somewhere in between the blanket and the covers.

"Both," Ianto said bitterly, then threw a bottle of chocolate boy paint at where he thought Jack was. "You left the bloody cap on. Nearly choked on the puddle. Tastes good, though."

"Good aim," Jack replied, then licked his face where the bottle had dripped. "It is yummy."


Ianto was never fully awake until after he had drunk his second cup of coffee, not even after such a rude awakening. The bitterness of the first was masked by cream and sugar. The second was drunk just as any other cup, with only a single teaspoon of sugar.

Jack knew for a fact which cup Ianto liked better. And it wasn't the second one.

Which was why, when Ianto was way too tired to do so, such as today, he would load the first cup with cream and sugar, just enough to override the fact that it was coffee, and give it to his young lover, who would then take a sip and give Jack a sweet, coffee-flavored kiss.


"Do we have any more chocolate chip muffins?" Ianto asked, digging through the cupboards and looking on the counters.

"I don't know," Jack replied, pouring milk over his cereal. "Did you finish them yesterday?"

"Maybe," Ianto frowned. "I thought I made enough to last a week."

Jack joined him in the search. Thankfully, he discovered the elusive muffins lurking behind the toaster.

After breakfast, when both men were (mostly) fully awake, Ianto led the way to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth once again, and coaxed Jack into doing so as well. In return, Jack dragged Ianto into a shared shower.


Once Ianto was in the suit he and Jack had picked out for the day, Jack could forget about any more frolicking. It was one of Ianto's rules, to ensure that they stayed professional throughout the day. But it wasn't a rule that was, despite Ianto's hard work on the part, strictly enforced.

As Ianto got into the driver's seat of his Audi, Jack bemoaned about the personal space and begged the young man to let him invade it. Ianto stood his ground, so Jack stuck his secret weapon into his mouth (minds out of the gutter, please), Ianto sent him a glare. Jack smiled in a self-satisfied way as Ianto pulled away from a cherry-flavored kiss, and started driving, the sweet transferred from Jack's mouth into his.


Jack and Ianto entered Torchwood through the Tourist Office, Ianto to open it, Jack to stay with him.

"You go ahead," Ianto waved him down, and set about flipping the sign from 'closed' to 'open' and making the Office look presentable. "I'll be down soon."

"Not soon enough," Jack replied, pecking Ianto on the lips and walking away down the stairs.

Ianto waited until Jack was out of sight, until even the faintest sound of his footfalls couldn't be heard. Then he opened a secret compartment in his desk and took out a packet of sweet candy canes. Breaking one apart, he stuck a piece in his mouth and sat down to wait for his first visitor.


When Ianto finally made it down to the Hub, Owen, Tosh, and Gwen were nowhere to be seen. He looked around, a bit puzzled, as all three of them were usually there at this time. Just as Ianto was about to go up to Jack's office and ask about their missing colleagues, the man himself walked out and up to him.

"They're checking out a Rift spike," Jack explained before Ianto could ask.

"When will they be back?" Ianto wondered.

Just then, the cog door opened, and just as Jack said "Now," Ianto mumbled "Nevermind."

Owen and Tosh were laughing about something or other, and Gwen was carrying a bag from one of the cafes near the Hub. Ianto took it from her and started setting up lunch in the boardroom. His eyes lit up as he took out what seemed to be strawberry pie.

Ever since the team had sat down for lunch, Ianto had been eying the container with the pie, itching to get his hands—and his mouth—on it. And Jack knew it. So, as Ianto's eyes stayed on the pie, Jack's stayed on Ianto, sparkling slightly with a teasing desire.

Gwen finished her sandwich and soup first. She put the wrappers into the bin and reached for the pie.

"You are going to share that, right?" Owen asked rudely, and Ianto did his best to not hope that she was.

"Or course," Gwen nodded, and, to a chorus of thanks, gave everyone a piece.

When Ianto finally got around to eating it, Tosh's computer gave a loud bing, indicating another Weevil sighting, startling Jack into slapping Ianto's hand to get his attention and causing him to drop the slice of pie on his napkin.

"Jack," Ianto scolded, taking the napkin off his suit and licking the dropped filling off his lips and chin.

"Ianto, with me," Jack ordered, and they walked onto the invisible lift. "Hold on."

Ianto turned to face Jack with a questioning raised eyebrow, and smiled, albeit incredulously, as Jack licked his thumb and lovingly cleared Ianto's cheek of leftover filling with it.


"You know," Ianto sighed as they walked out of Bute Park, brushing his suit free of dirt and grass. "It would be nice for us to actually catch the Weevil once in a while."

"We get a lot of them," Jack protested. "Not as many as there are sightings, but. . ."

"We do get a lot," Ianto agreed. "I just wanted to get this one."

"Because it ruined your jacket and tie?" Jack guessed correctly, pointing at the ruined remains of both.

"And to thank it for not ruining me," Ianto nodded, and Jack's eyes strayed from his face to the top of his chest, visible because of the undone top buttons of his shirt.

"I'll thank it for that, too," Jack decided, and his eyes held more than the joke they both made of it. "After I treat you."

"You don't have to, Jack," Ianto protested, but let the man take his free hand and drag him along.

"But I want to," Jack said as they passed an old woman walking her dog.

"Jack, where are we going?" Ianto demanded as the woman shot them a dirty look.

"Right here," Jack announced, stopping them in front of a little kiosk on the street.

"An ice-cream cart?" Ianto lifted an eyebrow, but Jack could tell he was pleased.

"My treat," Jack took out his wallet and addressed the man manning the cart. "A cone of chocolate ice-cream, please."

After a light nudge from Jack, Ianto requested, "And a mint one, too, please."

It was a testament to their luck when, on the way back to the Hub, there were no hostile alien invasions, and not a drop of ice-cream was dropped.


"You didn't get me any ice-cream," Owen pouted as he followed Ianto down to the Archives to get a file on Weevil mating habits.

"I'm sure Jack can buy you some, too, if you ask nicely," Ianto teased.

"Jack might," Owen agreed. "But I don't think Tosh would like to share."

"True," Ianto nodded and handed Owen a box with an annoyed look. "It's all we have."

Owen growled, and, to calm himself down, popped a piece of gun into his mouth, and offered Ianto a second one with a muttered, "Thanks."

Ianto brought Jack his coffee later, entering the office without knocking, and announced, "We need to update our files on Weevil mating habits."

"Owen's words?" Jack wondered, not standing up from his desk and looking up at Ianto.

"Both of ours," Ianto responded. "We need to know more. Owen thinks Janet's in heat."

"I'll try to find something," Jack nodded, and Ianto began to retreat. "Ianto."

"Huh?" Ianto asked, turning around at the door.

"No goodbye kiss?" Jack pouted, his eyes glinting.

Ianto smiled and came back. He leaned down and planted kiss on Jack's lips, leaving Jack with the taste of bubblegum in his mouth.


Tosh and Owen left about an hour after Gwen did, sending Jack and Ianto waves and winks. They replied in kind, with Jack throwing in a dirty grin as well. Ianto shook his head at Jack's antics.

He was holed up with Jack in the giant, transparent office, drinking from a mug of hot chocolate, while the latter stuck to coffee. Ianto was perched on the edge of the desk, looking, upside-down, at the paperwork Jack was attempting to catch up on.

"Ianto," Jack whined. "Can't I finish these tomorrow?"

"That's what you said yesterday," Ianto chuckled.

"Fine," Jack sighed, then waved to Ianto with, "Come closer."

"Why?" Ianto did as he was told.

"You have a little something," Jack said as he leaned in, and his next words ghosted over Ianto's lips, "Here."

"Did the chocolate stain again?" Ianto moaned in annoyance, rubbing at his mouth, now feeling it.

"I think I've got it all," Jack grinned and signed the piece of paper in front of him, before moving it, and the ones under it, to a corner of his desk, saying, "Completed."

Ianto rolled his eyes, but nodded. He finished off the rest of his drink in one gulp and allowed Jack to lead him out by the hand, pretending to ignore the unfinished pile of work on Jack's desk, and let the man think he'd succeeded in his white lie.


"So what shall we do tonight?" Jack asked, following Ianto into their flat and closing the door.

"Have dinner?" Ianto offered. "Go to bed and hope that nothing urgent happens during the night? I don't know."

Ianto took both of their coats and hung them up near the door before going into the kitchen to see what they had. They ended up settling for spaghetti, with Jack, much to Ianto's amusement, putting a fake rose onto the table to add to the romance.

"We don't need that, you know," Ianto pointed to the flower as he put away the last of the dishes.

"Why not?" Jack wondered.

"Because," Ianto quickly retrieved a can of whipped cream and a packet of strawberries from the refrigerator, "We can make the romance a different way."